The Ordinary Past Tense

Also known as: imperfect (in analogy with Greek), anadyatana-bhūta ("past action, not of today"), laṅ

Introduction

Although we've studied participles in the past, present, and future tenses, we've only studied "regular" verbs in the present tense. Now let's take a look at these sorts of verbs in the past:

I went.

You restrained.

We stood.

Each of these sentences can be translated to Sanskrit. But we should not translate them hastily: Sanskrit has three different versions of the past tense, and each version represents one of the following:

the recent past

the not-so-distant past

the distant past

The "recent past" and "distant past" are extremely old verb forms and are difficult to learn, so we'll stick with the "not-so-distant past" — which is the most common form of the past tense — for now. But "not-so-distant past" is a lengthy term, so let's just call it the ordinary past tense. Let's see how the sample sentences above look in the ordinary past tense:

अगच्छम्

agaccham

I went.

अयच्छः

ayacchaḥ

You restrained.

अतिष्ठाम

atiṣṭhāma

We stood.

Past participles (e.g. gata) can represent any of the three past tenses above.

Endings

We have three sets of endings to learn: P endings, A endings for the simple verb classes, and A endings for the complex verb classes. In this lesson, we'll study all three. But first, let's talk about that little a in front of the verb stem.

a

You might have noticed that the ordinary past tense has the letter a- in front of the stem. (I say a- instead of just a to emphasize that the letter is a prefix). This a- is sometimes called the "sign" or "mark" of the ordinary past tense. We attach this sign to the front of the normal stem to produce a special "past stem."

This a- sound is crucial for interpreting and recognizing the ordinary past tense. Fortunately, Sanskrit itself seems to recognize this fact; the a- of a past tense verb is never hidden. For instance, what do you think happens when a- is used with a verb that starts with a vowel, like iṣ? Based on the sandhi rules we've studied so far, you might guess that the past tense stem would be eccha. But the result is surprising:

इष् → इच्छ → ऐच्छ

iṣ → iccha → aiccha

want (root) → want (present stem) → wanted (ordinary past stem)

Traditionally, this behavior is explained as follows:

If the root starts with a vowel, the a prefix combines with that vowel and makes it a strong vowel.

It's that simple! Now, let's start studying some of the endings that this verb form uses.

P Endings

The P endings are similar to the endings of the present tense, but they're not exactly the same. Take a look:

bhū (a+, P, ordinary past tense)

भू

Singular

Dual

Plural

Third Person

अभवत्

abhavat

अभवताम्

abhavatām

अभवन्

abhavan

Second Person

अभवः

abhavaḥ

अभवतम्

abhavatam

अभवत

abhavata

First Person

अभवम्

abhavam

अभवाव

abhavāva

अभवाम

abhavāma

For comparison, here are the endings for the present tense:

bhū (a+, P, present tense)

भू

Singular

Dual

Plural

Third Person

भवति

bhavati

भवतः

bhavataḥ

भवन्ति

bhavanti

Second Person

भवसि

bhavasi

भवथः

bhavathaḥ

भवथ

bhavatha

First Person

भवामि

bhavāmi

भवावः

bhavāvaḥ

भवामः

bhavāmaḥ

Note the simple and elegant transformation from the present tense endings to the ordinary past tense endings. Each present tense ending loses its last letter; then, the rules of sandhi act to reduce the present endings to the past endings.

The complex verb classes use the same endings, as mentioned above. All of the verbs in the singular number use the strong stem.

su (no, P, past tense)

सु

Singular

Dual

Plural

Third Person

असुनोत्

asunot

असुनुताम्

asunutām

असुन्वन्

asunvan

Second Person

असुनोः

asunoḥ

असुनुतम्

asunutam

असुनुत

asunuta

First Person

असुनवम्

asunavam

असुनुव

asunuva

असुनुम

asusuma

A Endings

These endings are significantly different from the ones above. Try to memorize them now, and use the exercises on the next page to reinforce your memory. But don't work too hard; this set of endings is used by three different verb forms, and you'll have plenty of time to practice.

Here are the endings for verbs from the simple verb classes.

labh (a+, A, ordinary past tense)

लभ्

Singular

Dual

Plural

Third Person

अलभत

alabhata

अलभेताम्

alabhetām

अलभन्त

alabhanta

Second Person

अलभथाः

alabhathāḥ

अलभेथाम्

alabhethām

अलभध्वम्

alabhadhvam

First Person

अलभे

alabhe

अलभावहि

alabhāvahi

अलभामहि

alabhāmahi

The endings for verbs from the complex verb classes are almost exactly the same.

su (no, A, past tense)

सु

Singular

Dual

Plural

Third Person

असुनुत

asunuta

असुन्वाताम्

asunvātām

असुन्वत

asunvata

Second Person

असुनुथाः

asunuthāḥ

असुन्वाथाम्

asunvāthām

असुनुध्वम्

asunudhvam

First Person

असुन्वि

asunvi

असुनुवहि

asunuvahi

असुनुमहि

asunumahi

The changes are listed below:

āmahi → mahi, āvahi → vahi (the initial vowel is removed)

nta → ata (see the blue box in the previous lesson)

These differences are exactly parallel to the difference in the present ātmanepada.

Verb Prefixes and the Ordinary Past Tense

The earlier lesson on verb prefixes mentioned that the verb prefix comes before the verb stem. But now we have another prefix: the letter a-, which marks the ordinary past tense. Which prefix appears first? The answer might surprise you: the verb prefix appears first!

प्रतिगम् → प्रतिगच्छति

pratigam → pratigacchati

return → He returns.

प्रतिगम् → प्रत्यगच्छत्

pratigam → pratyagacchat

return → He returned.

Verb prefixes were once entirely separate from the verb itself. Over time, they came to be placed right in front of the verb, as in prati agacchat. The two forms combined, and the a- prefix was sandwiched in the middle.